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Backwoods Daydreamer Gear

I know this is very late in coming, my apologies.

I would like to formally announce Backwoods Daydreamer Gear - Gear to keep you dry in the outdoors. www.backwoodsdaydreamer.webs.com. You can contact me by here by PM, by email (backwoodsdaydreamer@gmail.com) or through my website. Not all products are available through the webstore, so just email me if you're interested in something not listed there (like side panel pull additions, special order colors or other custom work).

Your support here at Hammock Forums has been amazing. You’re the best group of outdoorsy folk I know and have made BDG Tarps possible.

As many of you know, I've already been building and selling tarps for a few months now. I have held off on any sort of advertising because I did not want to run into the problem of having more orders than I could handle... as it turns out - you found me at a far more rapid rate than I anticipated! We've sold nearly 50 tarps in just a few months, most all of those over the Christmas rush. It has been a whirlwind here. My apologies to those of you who are on a long waiting list - and my sincere thanks for your support! It has been overwhelming.

Before getting too talky, let’s see some of the products, shall we? Then you can keep reading if you don't mind me rambling on.

Winter Dream:
By far, the most popular tarp I offer. This is a very large tarp designed for severe wet and snowy weather. While the ridgeline is still 11', the outside edges are 13' long, giving an extra foot of coverage on either end. This allows the ends to be swung in, giving even more end coverage than the Four Season Tarp. An excellent tarp for severe foul weather.

Four Season:
The Four Season comes in both catenary cut and rectangular cut models. This is a large tarp with good coverage for all year use. The tie-outs are positioned so that the ends can be swung in to protect from wind driven rain.

Three Season Hex:
The Three Season is a Hexagon shaped tarp which gives lots of coverage, but shaves the ounces by losing the corner weight. This is an excellent size for ultralight backpackers who still want a large enough tarp to do camp chores under.

Fair Weather Friend - Rectangle / Asym:Asymmetrical: For the serious gram counter, here is your tarp for fast and light packing. It is a diamond fly, but with the corners off center to reflect the way most people sleep in a hammock - corner to corner. For hammock campers who want to stay dry, but need to cut out every possible ounce. (11' ridgeline, 7'3" wide).

Rectangular: This one is a bit larger than the asymmetrical model and is an ecxellent choice if you need more end coverage for your setup than the asym model affords. The rectangle tarp is also a good choice if you are concerned about having to go to ground at some point and will need a more versatile tarp. (11' ridgeline, 5' wide).

Side Panel Pulls:
About 1/3 of my customers ask to have side panel pulls added to their tarps. I offer this service for $15.00 for the set of four. They can be added most anywhere on the tarp. If unspecified I place them 42" in and 28" down. That leaves approx. 4' between tie outs and gives what I consider to be the optimal amount of head room while siting in a fairly low hanging hammock.

Even more to come…

Here is some of the more technical aspects that you may be interested in:

Lightweight 1.1oz Silicone Impregnated Ripstop Nylon

First quality Ultrasil, a Cordura® fabric.

- For stock fabric – special orders fabrics may have different branding.

Large tarps come with a system to clip the “wings” up and out of the way for nicer weather.

- Or for closing off the “wings” as doors.

Seams run along the ridgeline.

100% Polyester Gutterman thread.

Stuff Sack Included.

Some more important information you’ll be interested in:
The most common question I get is this: Can you do other colors? The answer is yes… usually for an additional fee (simply because I do not receive the same volume discount on such small orders from my suppliers). Generally this is between $10-20 over stock pricing. Color choices vary, so inquire by email if you’re wanting a special order color.

Also – in regards to colors… I have some very very good news. My main supplier has just come out with an excellent stealthy color – I’d call it a Treebark Brown (it’s got a strong hue of olive green, but is also definitely a brown). I received a sample and ran my water test on it (suspend a gallon of water in the fabric and let it hang overnight). It passed with flying colors (one drop seeped through in 15 hours) – and my supplier is running more extensive (and much more scientific) tests on it right now for me as well. Once I’ve built up a bit more capital I will be offering this as a stock color choice. I expect by the end of January.

Another color I am working on carrying as stock is Black. It will be a while down the road as well, but has been popular enough for me to try to get a hold of it in larger quantity.

I love building gear. As you DIY’ers know… it’s a bit of an addiction. I can stop anytime I want… really. I just don’t want to. In fact, I enjoy the building so much that I built far more than I could ever use. Most of it was given to friends to get them into hammock camping (many successful converts there). The problem there is that it becomes costly. This is where you come in. By purchasing my products, you’re enabling me to keep doing what I love... designing and building outdoor gear. It’s basically a self-supporting hobby.

I have to admit, like Adam in regards to his Underquilts (ThePerfectTrees - check them out!) - I've been burning the candle at both ends. It's exciting, and exhausting. I work full time as a youth pastor (I know what you're thinking... don't pastors only work on Sundays?... ) But, working full time, coming home to eat, spend a bit of time with my wonderful wife and daughter, then hitting the gear machine once I put the baby down for bed doesn’t leave enough time.

In that vein, I have some (potentially) good news! Over the last couple days I've been working with a friend who does clothing repairs for a local Laundromat – training her to build some of these tarps. If this works out to my liking, wait times will drop back to more manageable levels. Sure, I won’t be making much of anything, paying a “sub-contractor” to do much of the work, but it will build the business and provide income for a family that can use it more than me right now. – did I mention that I ramble?

Glad you finally got a chance to do the announcement - you have some good lookin' tarps there.

I'd like to see a picture of the Winter Dream with the doors shut. The extra coverage of those doors sounds like a real treat - it was an issue we tried to solve with our asym 12x10 but your solution looks a lot less specialized than ours.

It will be a bit before I can build enough capitol to order a roll (100yds at a pop of this stuff is rather pricey, but the most cost efficient way to do it). I hope to be able to offer it by late January. (I'll get back to you by email soon with more details Shadowmoss).

One more note:This goes out to all of you who have purchased a standard Gray Winter Dream v.2.I need some high quality pictures of the tarp strung up. I know this is a rough time of year to ask, but if you have any that you don't mind sharing - can you email them to me? (backwoodsdaydreamer@gmail.com) I've not yet been able to get ahead of orders, not even by one single tarp - so I haven't been able to take any good ones of the new model.

I don't feel right holding someone's tarp up by going out for pictures when you've already waited so long for it. Also, we're due for a couple feet of snow today and tomorrow - not the best conditions for a nice photo shoot.

I'd like to see a picture of the Winter Dream with the doors shut. The extra coverage of those doors sounds like a real treat - it was an issue we tried to solve with our asym 12x10 but your solution looks a lot less specialized than ours.

Pay no attention to the color...

Here is an example of a couple ways to set it up. (Note that this one has velcro to close off ends, so they're not done with shock cord as you would normally do).

P.S. This is the same "orange" that Opie's tarp is made with. You'll be able to see him camping for miles around.

I was more interested in seeing the amount of overlap with the standard cat cut ends, as thats what I've got on my winter tarps, and I'd like to see how much you gain by going 13' on the outer edges, but thanks for the pics.